Latin American nation Chile has announced it will join the UAE’s own celebration of ingenuity, Expo 2020 Dubai.

The country has officially confirmed its participation in the first World Expo to be held in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia (MEASA) region.

Through its overall theme, ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’, Expo 2020 Dubai will offer participants a platform to foster creativity, innovation and collaboration and give many millions of visitors a glimpse into the future, guided by its three interwoven themes: Opportunity, Mobility and Sustainability.

This will be the ideal platform for Chile, a country with great natural and human potential, to demonstrate how it is working to include environmentally sustainable production processes in a number of economic sectors.

Examples include the increased cultivation of organic foods, care and management of the oceans, and the use of non-conventional renewable energy sources, which now account for 17 per cent of Chile’s energy grid and are expected to reach 70 per cent by 2050.

“Innovation and the environment are at the heart of world Expos, which is why we are delighted to welcome Chile as the latest nation to formally announce its participation at Expo 2020 Dubai,” said Manal AlBayat, Senior Vice President, Business Development and Integration at Expo 2020 Dubai.

“We look forward to working with Chilean firms and officials in these areas as we travel together on the journey to Expo 2020 Dubai and beyond.”

Chile announced its participation at Expo 2020 Dubai following an official visit by a delegation from the UAE’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and Expo 2020 Dubai.

Alejandro Buvinic, Director, ProChile, said: “Expo 2020 Dubai will be an unmissable opportunity for Chile to showcase to a global audience the hard work we have undertaken to improve production processes in every area of our economy, including the export service sector.

“Chile boasts unrivalled conditions for producing fresh, pure, healthy and good quality food which is enjoyed in many countries around the world. Our country is a natural laboratory for new-tech and green business initiatives, and has developed the ideal conditions for future clean energy to lead the fight against climate change in the region. These will be among the concepts that Chile will present at Expo Dubai 2020.

“We will also show what we have been doing to help our SMEs take their products and services out into the world, and to incorporate innovation within each of their enterprises.”

World Expos, which date back to the 1851 Great Exhibition in London, have always celebrated the latest in innovation and technology. Expo Live has an allocation of USD 100 million (AED 367 million) to support projects that offer creative solutions to pressing challenges that impact people’s lives or help preserve our world – or both.

The Expo Live programme, which was publicly launched in January following a pilot phase last year, will support the winning projects through funds, business guidance, promotion and acceleration of their creative solutions. They will also be able to showcase their work at Expo 2020 Dubai.

Chile and the UAE share strong bilateral relations, with Chile being Dubai’s second largest export market in Latin America - after Brazil – with a 13 percent share of trade volume, and non-oil trade between the two countries totalling USD 163 million in 2015.

In announcing its participation, Chile joins more than 120 countries from around the world that have made a commitment to take part in Expo 2020 Dubai, which opens on 20 October 2020 and closes six months later, on 10 April 2021.

More than 200 participants including nations, multilateral organizations, corporations and educational institutions are expected to take part, with further national participation announcements expected in the coming months.